Security Land Co. v. South Texas Development Co.

142 S.W. 1191, 1911 Tex. App. LEXIS 760
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 14, 1911
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 142 S.W. 1191 (Security Land Co. v. South Texas Development Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Security Land Co. v. South Texas Development Co., 142 S.W. 1191, 1911 Tex. App. LEXIS 760 (Tex. Ct. App. 1911).

Opinion

PLEASANTS, C. J.

This appeal is from an order of the judge of the Fifty-Fifth judicial district; made.upon ex parte hearing, appointing a receiver of the appellant corporation, in a suit brought against it and the other appellants, who are stockholders and directors of said corporation, by the appel-lees, the South Texas Development Company and W. B. Renn, a minority stockholder and one of the directors of the appellant corporation.

The petition is lengthy, and it would serve no useful purpose to set out its allegations in detail, or to give the substance of each of its various paragraphs. For the purposes of this opinion, the following general statement of the allegations of the petition will suffice:

The South Texas Development Company is a corporation organized under the laws of this state, having its principal office and place of business in the city of Houston. Plaintiff W. B. Renn is a resident of said .city of Houston, in Harris county, and is a stockholder in defendant corporation and one of its directors, and is also an officer of plaintiff corporation. The defendant the Security 'Land Company is a corporation organized under the laws, of the state of Arizona, but is doing business in Texas, and has an office and agent in the city of Houston. The defendants J. F. Manning and H. L. Rit-ter are directors of defendant corporation. Manning is the president of said corporation, and was residing in the city of Houston at the time the petition was filed. Defendant Ritter is a resident of the state of Colorado. The pétition then alleges the execution, by the plaintiff corporation and the defendants, of six different contracts, a copy of each of which said contracts is attached as an exhibit to the petition, and the substance of each set out in the petition.

The first of these contracts was executed by the defendants Manning and Ritter, but it is alleged in the petition that the obligations of said defendants under said contract were subsequently assumed by the defendant corporation. The' terms of these several contracts are somewhat confusing, ■ and it is difficult to determine accurately to what extent the first of said contracts are superseded by those subsequently executed. It, however, appears with sufficient certainty from the allegations of the petition that by the terms of the existing contracts between the plaintiff corporation and the defendant company that said plaintiff agreed that it would sell and deliver to the defendant corporation, or to purchasers to be procured by it, 20,000 acres of land owned or to be acquired by the plaintiff corporation in the counties of Montgomery, Harris, Grimes, and Waller. It was further agreed that the Development Company would furnish abstracts, surveys, plats, and opinions on title, on demand, to the Security Company, of the lands, in, tracts of not less than five acres, or multiples thereof, and that the Security Company could sell these lands, as selling agents, at any price it could get, but at not less than $1 per acre, cash, and $1 per acre per month on deferred payments, and that whenever the Security Company paid $10 per acre to the Development Company (with the exception of four sections, as to which it was to pay $7 per acre) on any subdivisions, or multiples thereof, then the Development Company was to- deliver deeds to such persons as the Security Company might designate, and release those particular tracts of land from its liens or further claims, crediting the Security Company generally, and holding the remainder of the land. But there-was this exception to this price, to wit, that as to the town-site lands the Security Company would not be entitled to deeds at the above rate, but at that rate, plus cost of the improvements on such lands, and 10 per cent, on such cost additional.

It was furthermore expressly agreed that the Development Company should have a first lien on all vendor’s lien notes, contracts-of sale, and all other securities or property taken or held by said Security Company from the purchasers of said lands, and might direct the place of deposit of same, and should have the right, at all times during business hours, to examine the books and accounts of the Security Company in reference to the sales of said lands and the distribution of the income therefrom.

In addition to these contracts declared: upon by plaintiff Development Company, the-plaintiff W. B. Renn declared upon a written contract between the Security Company, as party of the first part, and himself, as party of the second part, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit H to plaintiffs’ petition.. The said contract providing that, in consideration of said Renn’s financing the Security Company in its selling of lands in Montgomery county, Tex., obtained by it prior to-February 11, 1910, under contract with the Development Company, and furnishing money necessary to pay its bills and carry on its-business, the said Security Company sold and transferred to W. B. Renn 50,000 shares of its capital stock; and it was furthermore-expressly stipulated that W. B. Renn, in so furnishing money to the Security Company, should be fully advised of the matters on which said money was to be expended, and all indebtedness and expenditures of money should be mutually agreed upon, and furthermore bound himself, upon receipt of statement of the then indebtedness of the Security Company, showing the due and just liabilities of said company, to furnish the mon *1193 ey to pay the same, not exceeding $5,000. It was furthermore agreed that Renn might select a person who is a competent accountant to be the secretary and treasurer of the Security Company, and to act as a director of said company for and in his behalf, if he so desired.

The plaintiff Development Company alleges in detail complete compliance on its part with all of its said contracts heretofore alluded to, the surveying, subdividing, and platting of the land, its readiness at all times to deliver deeds to the property, its delivery of abstracts of title and opinion of its attorneys as contracted for, and that it has at all times stood ready to deliver additional ones in accordance with the contract.

The plaintiff further alleges that, in order to show good faith, and in the performance and carrying out of-said contracts, the plaintiff, at the request of the Security Company, did erect valuable and permanent improvements on said lands in Montgomery county, Tex., known as the “Security Town-Site Tract,” building thereon a hotel, residences, and stores, and did further agree that plaintiff would sell said lands to the said Security Company, or its assigns, together with said improvements, and that the Security Company contracted to pay therefor, in addition to the price of the land, the actual cost of the improvements, together with 10 per cent, on said cost.

The plaintiff further alleges that, in addition to the above, the said Development Company, from time to time, at the request of the said defendant Security Company, has made actual cash advancements to the Security Company, aggregating the sum of $5,-577.08, and attaches, as Exhibit G, to its petition an itemized statement of all such advancements, giving the respective amounts advanced, and the dates on which the advancements were made, and further alleging that the Security Company contracted to repay said advancements to plaintiff, together with 6 per cent, interest thereon from the date of such advancements, which it has wholly failed to do, and the same is due and wholly unpaid to plaintiff, to its damage in the sum stated, for which the plaintiff sues and prays judgment.

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Bluebook (online)
142 S.W. 1191, 1911 Tex. App. LEXIS 760, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/security-land-co-v-south-texas-development-co-texapp-1911.